 | |
  Andautonia Shown within Croatia | |
 Interactive map of Andautonia | |
| Alternative name | Dautonia |
|---|---|
| Location | Šćitarjevo,Zagreb County,Croatia |
| Coordinates | 45°46′24.8″N16°7′0.7″E / 45.773556°N 16.116861°E /45.773556; 16.116861 |
| Type | Settlement |
| Area | over 2,000 m2 (22,000 sq ft) |
| History | |
| Founded | 1st c. |
| Abandoned | 5th c. |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1883– |
| Public access | yes |
| Website | www |
Andautonia was aRoman settlement located on the southern bank of the riverSava, located in the modern-day village ofŠćitarjevo, southeast of the city ofZagreb,Croatia.
Andautonia was located in the Roman province ofPannonia, on the Roman road connectingPoetovia andSiscia (modern-day towns ofPtuj andSisak).[1]
According to the 19th-century Croatian archaeologistŠime Ljubić, the toponym Andautonia (Ancient Greek:Ἀνδαυτόνιον) was mentioned by the ancient geographerPtolemy in his 2nd-century workGeography, who placed it, perhaps inaccurately, between the settlements ofBononia and Novidunum (present-dayBanoštor in northern Serbia andKrško in Slovenia).[2] The only other mention of the same settlement was found in theAntonine Itinerary, believed to date from the early 3rd century, which refers to the place as Dautonia.[1]
The road connected Andautonia with Poetovium viaPyrri andAquaviva to the north, and Siscia to the south.[2] The settlement is believed to have existed between the 1st and the 4th century AD, after which it is believed to have been destroyed during theGreat Migration in Europe.[3]
In the modern age, its name was first discovered written on a stone tablet recovered inStenjevec (today a western part ofZagreb) in 1758 and then another one in the village of Šćitarjevo itself in 1768.[4]
During the 19th century, Roman stone and brick material that could still be found in these areas was by and large removed and reused in the construction of new buildings, thereby removing the surface traces of Andautonia's location.[5] The settlement's location was disputed at the time, with various claims made by cartographers and historians includingLatius,Lapie,Reichard,d'Anville,Krčelić,Blašković,Katančić andKukuljević.
It was finally properly deduced by German scholarTheodor Mommsen and published in theCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum in 1873.[6] Not long after Mommsen's placement, theZagreb Archaeological Museum started its first excavations in Šćitarjevo and found numerous Roman artifacts at the depth of about 1 metre (3.3 ft), confirming the location.[7]
Almost a century later, a series of excavations were done on the site between 1969 and 1980, and since 1981 archaeologists also looked into the backyard of the local parish building in the modern-day village centre. They found remains of streets, the sewer system, various buildings, city walls, and a necropolis.[3] In 1994, an archeological park open to visitors was built in the village.[3]
The town is believed to have been amunicipium, a second-tier type of settlement reserved for important tribal centres that came under Roman control. Its residents had local authority to govern their affairs but did not have fullRoman citizenship. For approximately 300 years the town is believed to have been the main administrative, political, and cultural centre in the area. Among the artefacts excavated is a relief of the goddessNemesis, commonly associated with gladiator events, indicating that the town may have had an amphitheatre.
Pottery, tools, coins and other assorted artefacts found range in date from the reign of EmperorTitus (79–81) to EmperorValens (364–378) and the inscription found in 1768 contains a dedication toHerennia Etruscilla, wife of EmperorDecius who ruled from 249 to 251, referring to her asmater castrorum ("mother of the (army) camps").
According to linguistPetar Šimunović (2013), the toponym Andautonia likely dates from pre-Roman times, and is derived from theProto-Indo-European prefixan- ("near") and*dheu̯- ("to flow"), meaning "a place by the river", as the settlement was on the banks of the Sava River.[8]
| International | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
